The purpose of this book is to grasp the presence of Candomblé in the Brazilian society and more specifically in the city of Salvador da Bahia. Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian religion practised by approximately thirty five million Brazilians, today. Brazil is a country whose cultural diversity is characterised by social contrasts. The Candomblé religion has culturally mixed roots and as both part

Background: Research is needed on how to optimize the return-to-work process for persons with mental health problems.Objective: To develop a model that explains how employer and rehabilitation professional mental health literacy may influence strategies used in the return-to-work of persons with mental health problems.Methods: A grounded theory study design was used to collect and analyse intervie

This article explores the advocacy activities of the Church of Sweden. The historical co-optation of the Church by the state, a Lutheran theological heritage, and a trend from “voice to service” within Swedish civil society might discourage stronger political activism by the Church. The following research questions are answered: How does the extent of the advocacy activities of the Church of Swede

For a firm in an open source software (OSS) ecosystem, the requirements engineering (RE) process is rather multifaceted. Apart from its typical RE process, there is a competing process, external to the firm and inherent to the firm’s ecosystem. When trying to impose an agenda in competition with other firms, and aiming to align internal product planning with the ecosystem’s RE process, firms need

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic progressive disorder leading to increasing disability. While the symptoms and needs of patients in the early stages of their disease are well characterized, little information is available on patients in the late stage of the disease. Methods/design: The Care of Late-Stage Parkinsonism (CLaSP) study is a longitudinal, multicenter, prospective cohor

The building industry is facing a huge challenge as the industry sector carries much responsibility of the anthropogenic climate change: activities associated with housing alone account for as much as 30% of global annual energy demand. This demand derives not only from the physical characteristics of the buildings, but from the actions of the users, both end-users and professional managers. Even

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the emerging Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy (KBBE) in Europe. The first objective is to explore different perspectives and understanding of the bio-economy and its key components. This provides the foundations for the second objective, which is to critically discuss the bio-economy in terms of positive and negative impacts as well as dr

Purpose of the Study: To identify policy gaps in the delivery and availability of assistive health technology (AHT) and medical devices (MD) for aging populations, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Design and Methods: The findings presented in this paper are the results of several narrative overviews. They provide a contextual analysis of the conclusions and evidence from W

Responding to increasing concerns with the quality of care in both Sweden and England, this paper explores the way in which caring practice emerges out of the interplay between personal and social agency. Working from a socio-cultural perspective, results from an English and a Swedish study conducted independently of each other were used to explore the construction of caring practice. The English

This thesis centers on the continued participation and agency of women in Sweden within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON, despite its direct culture clash with Nordic egalitarian policy. While also addressing the translation of religious belonging into an identity given the increased interaction with the surrounding secular environment of Sweden. The motivation behind

Purpose: About half of all people with disabilities in developing countries live in extreme poverty. Focusing on the ends rather than the economic means of human development, the capability approach offers an alternative view of poverty. The purpose of this study was to explore the relation between assistive technology use and capability poverty in a low-income country. Method: Self-reported data

This licentiate thesis is a monography complemented with one published article: “Interactive Design – the desire for autonomous upright mobility: A longitudinal case study, Technology and Disability 19 (2007) 213-224”. My hope is that the combination of the monographic part (with its phenomenological tone, personified and situated), and the more unbarked “Technology and Disability” article (with i

Throughout history packages are used to contain, store and transport goods and products. In early days it was a matter of gathering and storing locally, whereas in today’s global enterprises packaging is an important issue in the operational management in networks of functions and/or divisions, often separated geographically around the world. Packaging has become a part of the process of efficient

This article explores the use of sustainability criteria for biomass as a tool to promote and safeguard sustainability of this product. Much attention is paid to the issues that sustainability criteria for biomass should consider. Among them the priority for food supply and food security, the emission reduction of green house gases (GHG) through the whole production chain, the preservation of area

There is a rhetoric in current European political agenda for widening access to ICT’s as part of a strategy for encouraging greater participation in public life. We argue against a naïve assumption that technology in itself could provide solutions. Knowing that systems with potential for meaningful use are available is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to bring about desire for use in any

The concept of sustainable investing has gained importance in recent years, considering the growing share of sustainable investments compared to the total volume of global investments. The rise of sustainable investment has not only led to changes on the part of investors, but also to changes of a strategic nature on the part of companies. In this context, Green Mergers and Acquisitions represent

Work related stress, including burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress, often occurs in professionals aspiring to support clients with traumatic experiences. The aim of this study was to examine how professional helpers understand and manage their work with clients who have experienced trauma. Examined issues were what challenges the professionals identified in their work, what